I just couldn't sleep for the whole night...was really trauma by this experience.

Yesterday, a man, who claimed that he was from URA. He demanded and barged into my house and said that he was from URA and he needs to come into my place to take photo.

He did not even show me his ID card and just barged into my house.

He even said that he is from URA, even if I call the police, I would still have to let him in to take pictures. Is this true?

I was alone and my parents were overseas. So I let him in. I felt really scared cos he was very fierce and demanding.

I dunno...but i really felt very traumatized after the whole incident. I feel scare, even till now.

My parents are overseas and I am alone by myself in the house.

Is it true that I would have to let the man in? As long he shows his pass that he is from URA? Is it right? I am feeling very confused and scared.

Did he explain to you why he needs to come into the house to take picture? Normally URA will send you a written notice to inform you that they will be sending their personnel to your house prior the photo taking. The date, time, reason will be given....They are supposed to show you their authorization card when they visit. You can also called up URA to check if they have indeed authorized their personnel to your place for photo taking.

Pls DO NOT open doors for strangers no matter how demanding and fierce they are even if they showed you their passes. They have no right to enter your house if no advance notice is given, and moreover you are alone.

Call up URA and check, hope u are okie!!!!

Last edited by Popcorn on Sat Apr 19, 2014 12:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

if he claimed to be from URA, he should have identification.perhaps you would like to call URA/police to inform them what happened.do NOT open the gate for anyone if this happens again.even if he showed you URA identification pass, call to confirm while keeping the gate/door closed.

If there is no one else at home, I would advise not to let any strangers into the house. Get a neighbour to accompany you or you call the Neighbourhood Police Post officer to come to your house to check out the stranger.

In the meanwhile, I would suggest you do the following:

1. Call up a relative to let relate what happened2. Get the relative to call up URA to check the identity of the stranger3. If the stranger is really from URA, lodge a complaint with URA abt the overbearing attitude of the personnel.4. If the stranger is not from URA, call the neighbourhood police post to inform of a suspicious stranger you had let into your house while your parents were away. Request the police to increase patrolling your neighbourhood.

How old are you? I was left at home with a younger brother for 2 mths when I was 17yo, and I remember being quite nervous even though I had relatives staying next door. I can't emphasise enough - DO NOT allow any stranger in the house for any reason, and no matter what threats they make! Actually call the police if they insist! Without ID, they cannot insist on entering your house, and even if they show ID, they should have some kind of letter of authorisation saying what they intend to do, and who you can call to confirm. By the way, in case you get into this situation again, if the phone. no. for confirmation is a mobile phone no., also beware. It's better that you find and call the main tel. line of the agency concerned and ask for the person-in-charge (should be named in the letter) by name. Never mind about keeping the person waiting - if he is genuine, he would expect his daughter/sister to do the same in your situation, so he should understand.

In this case, I hope nothing bad happened, but you should have stood firm, even if he shouted at you. If he was from a govt agency, he should not have refused to show ID and got angry, so I believe it was a hoax. Do you have any other adult you can call on while your parents are away? A grandparent, aunt/uncle, family friend, neighbour, even a teacher? My advice is that you call someone and tell them what has happened, and you should probably report the incident to the URA or the police. If the person was a badly-behaved URA employee, he will be warned; if it was some kind of hoax, the police will probably keep a close eye on your house for the time being. Maybe you can go and stay somewhere else until your parents come home? I hope you didn't tell the man that your parents are away. Do take care. Call a responsible adult or tell an adult neighbour as soon as possible!

Do you live in a flat? How could he barge in if there's a gate?If you live in a condo, how could the guy get past your guardhouse?If you live in a landed property, isn't there a big gate for you to scrutinise his credentials first?

Did your parents illegally sublet any bedrooms to tenants? But this is not by URA. Did your parents illegally partition some rooms in your condo (if u r staying in one)?Did your neighbours complain abt structural cracks/leakage in their unit(s) recently?

Which areas did this guy photograph? Ceiling? Toilet? Flooring?

NEA officials work in a small team. Singapore Power in pairs. SPRING comes in with contractors too. If there're URA guys at all visiting pp's houses, I guess they should work in min pairs too. They will hv to flash their IDs to prove that they're govt officials. Even if they didn't, you oughta have written down their particulars, which you failed to.

Pls call URA office on Monday to verify if you haven't already done so on Thursday.

Last edited by jetsetter on Sat Apr 19, 2014 11:04 am, edited 1 time in total.

These days, it isn't difficult to impersonate policeman or the stranger can claim he is an undercover policeman. Whatever, call up the neighborhood police post police to come to check out the stranger.